March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. plans to dismiss about
800 commercial-jet workers this year as it completes post-assembly fixes for its newest models, the 787 Dreamliner and the
747-8 jumbo jet.

There will be an overall reduction of 2,000 to 2,300 jobs
in the Seattle area, Boeing’s headquarters for the development
and manufacturing of commercial jets, said Marc Birtel, a
spokesman. Some cuts will be absorbed through attrition and
other measures.

Companywide employment will be unchanged or slightly lower
this year, even with Boeing hiring as many as 10,000 as it
boosts production another 25 percent through 2014. Increases are
planned on the 787 and 737 programs, part of a four-year effort
to boost jet output more than 60 percent. Work is winding down
on refurbishing the 787s and 747s that were built before the
models entered service at the end of 2011.

“With the 787 and 747 development efforts completing and
the disruption associated with that substantially decreasing, we
require fewer resources,” Birtel said in a telephone interview.

He said the reductions aren’t related to the grounding of
the 787 Dreamliner, which has been parked worldwide since Jan.
16 amid investigations into battery faults. The 787 assembly
lines have continued producing five jets a month during the
grounding, with plans to double that by the end of the year.

Boeing said last month it was eliminating contractors’ jobs
at its new 787 plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, where
it employs about 6,000 workers who were becoming more efficient
with experience.

Boeing, based in Chicago, employs about 174,000 people
worldwide, including more than 86,000 in the Seattle area.